Gen. Votel says that the US is not looking at pulling back in Syria, adding that the US remains focused of fighting ISIS, despite ISIS having very little remaining territory in Syria.

Turkey invaded Syrian Kurdistan earlier this month in Afrin District, and has indicated that Manbij will be invaded next. Deputy Premier Bozdag has said US troops may be targeted by Turkish forces for helping the Kurds.

This has been a problem long coming, as Turkey has been complaining about US support for the Kurdish YPG for years, and has telegraphed that they’d eventually invade Syria to get them. The US has mostly just ignored those warnings.

US officials don’t seem to have a great handle on what to do now that the Turks are invading, beyond urging them to focus on ISIS. The reality, however, is that Turkey believes they’ve already defeated ISIS, at least on the border, and the YPG are their only focus now.

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US is cornered, landlocked and extremely exposed in this unsustainable occupation and wont accept a humiliating defeat. Erdogan can’t back down what he’s started so this will indeed be interesting. This move had to be made by an “ally” so the entire operation is a masterstroke signed by Putin, no less.

Eventually US will have to leave, that they choose to make things worse for themselves only shows that there is no plan behind this occupation and certainly no plan out. Arrogance and hubris in action.

Oh wait…..?!!!! Yeah, just wait….. But this ain’t Gudot, it’ Erdogan, and he has been waiting too long.. Will this translate into mortars and artillary and a frontal attack…???? Don’t forget the Gulan seething…. Or the 30,000 man border force what Trainwreck Tillerson blurted that lit the fuse of this very episode. Will it be another Trump win, or Erdoganz comeuppance…..

Or will it be Erdogans last orders as president? Turkeys not the problem it’s one person that has alot of people mad at him in his country. Can’t arrest them all and all it takes is one person to eliminate the threat. So many sniper rifle floating around the region, or maybe it’ll be a direct strike from a ship off the coast. Can’t let one person break one of the most important assets in respect to the containment of Russia that’s vital to the Free worlds national security. Lots of nations depend on that base inside Turkey. The person that threatens the existence of that base should be extremely careful, he got lucky last time social media saved his life.

The NATO members are not half as pissed off with Turkey as they are with Uncle Sam. It’s us that keeps the Western Europeans from the cheep Russian oil and using their backyards for hugely disruptive war games.
Turkey was the first to wise up.. Others wil soon follow.

It’s not the United States that scares Europe as long as the economies are intertwined, our traditions in play, our militaries dependant on one another nothing will change. Trump is an obnoxious blow hard that offends everything a civilized society is based upon as the leader of America he makes America un-appealing. Our allies are convinced he’s not trustworthy and he’s compromised by the Russians. Truthfully what I see happening is maybe Putin helped get elected someone so un-savory to give the other countries a reason to give Russia a second glance,compared to Trump maybe Putin doesn’t look to bad.

Intertwined is exactly what the Europeans don’t want to be. America’s Russian sanctions hurt them more than the Russians and only benefit US energy producers.
This is what Europe finds unappealing, not Trump.

European countries are threatened by the actions Russia is taking covertly and militarily. If Putin acted in a way those countries could deal with him maybe he’d win them over unlike Trump who Britain doesn’t even want to host. This is Russia’s chance to change the dynamic. That’s how un-appealing Trump is even to sensible Americans.

How can you say that when we showed Russia how to play the game? We brought them into the civilized countries, we voted to make them part of the G-8, We showed them the benefits of a democracy after communism collapsed and it’s nation fell into civil war. It was only after those countries that border Russia wanted to reach out into the Western markets, join the European Union that Russia used the Wagner Group to invade Ukraine and intimidate his smaller neighbors because Russia is scared of competition, they want to force there smaller neighbors into there sphere of influence.FACTS….

Are you kidding me?… We fleeced them when the Russians were the most vulnerable.
We lied to them about not expanding our alliance, even after they withdrew well into their own territory. You’ve skipped a huge chapter in the Ukraine saga – the putsch carried out by Nazi extremists orchestrated by our State Dept.. Vicky Newland was caught red handed in her intrigue. Now Ukraine isn’t a member of the EU or ever likely to be. It’s cut itself off from the rest of the Slavic world and is a debtors prison to the Shylocks of the IMF.
In FACT the only region of Ukraine that isn’t in turmoil and depredation is Crimea, which was never Ukraine’s free and clear. The Black Sea Fleet’s base there always made it a special case but the neocons in their conceit never figured on the consequences.. Which is par for the course with you lot.

You’re absolutely correct in that and I don’t understand why that attempt of his removal happened. He was helping America recruit fighters, we had them training in Turkey and he even shot down a Russian jet, I agree whoever was behind that decision is an idiot. It forced him right into Putin’s open arms. Mr.Thomason when you’re right you’re right.

The AVF is just a little busy at the moment to consider “invading” Turkey. It can be proven that the US military is the most expensive. It hasn’t been proven it can defeat every other country on earth before lunch.
The reality is, countries like Iran, DPRK, Turkey, China and Russia will require more resources the the the all volunteer force has available. Want war with these countries, sign up before you get drafted. No cakewalks likely.

Yes because America doesn’t have any huge bombs that can end a nations existence, we’re just a bunch of people fighting with Tomahawks and sling shots. There’s a reason we’re in those nations backyards and all they can’t do anything about it and if they tried we know exactly what would happen.

Americans were being killed daily in the backyard of Iraq. .till they paid off the Sunnis to stop..then paid the Kurds to fight and die…

history proves there is no such thing as invincible armies.

..had the US would have been required to (take and hold indefinitely ) ramadi, iraq to raqqa, syria and every city inbetween by itself! it would break the military…the daily carnage, retention (being a unpopular war since the beginning) and would have severely limited the previous administration domestic agenda let alone trump’s due to cost alone

Imagine trying to hold and occupy parts of Syria, whole of iraq, borders of Turkey, borders of Iran on top of Afghanistan, the wars in yemen, and occupying the entirety of libya.. (again without contracting out the actual fighting and dying to local militias)

There’s simply no way the us would stay afloat..

using nukes is out of the question giving the fact that the us declared Saddam was a threat via holding the world hostage to his agenda by wmd’s..

The US would without argue be responsible for destroying a large part of humanity because they refused to live as dictated by American rulers..

What happens when two “friends” fight? Sometimes you can remain neutral but sometimes you have to pick sides. Nice move on Central commands part to give Turkey the middle finger. Might have been smarter to deny that US troops were present with those Kurds and slide them out of there. Now it looks like we are going to break up NATO and hand Putin a giant present, almost as if Trump is working for the Russians. Suppose the weather forecast on RT was for a chance of golden showers had something to do with it.

About time. Even if it ever should have existed, it should never have included countries that aren’t on the North Atlantic, and it should have dissolved as soon as the Warsaw Pact came apart. Keeping an organization around after the threat it is supposedly intended to counter disappears is a recipe for fuckery.

During the campaign Trump called NATO an “obsolete relic,” which caused massive heart palpitations in the military-industrial complex and European government halls. If this turns out to be his method for consigning NATO to history’s dustbin, then so much the better. Let those nations try to figure out how to maintain their lavish welfare states while fully paying for their own defense. (Hint: they can’t.)

One country leaving NATO is hardly means it’s dissolved remember Putin was once a member of the world’s most powerful group of countries the G-8 but, was booted when he used the Wagner Group to invade Ukraine. Erdogan may find himself in a no win position. If he kills American personnel in Syria his military will suffer massive losses because his ground forces will be demolished with scuds, and America can just leave the Kurds a present to defend themselves in the form of SAMS and make Erdogan pay a heavy price for his actions. NATO is here to stay 1 monkey don’t stop no show, and the beat goes on.

Turkey is not just any member of NATO but the largest military component of the alliance. There will be no retaliation. If any American personnel are killed, it won’t be because they weren’t warned.
Getting booted out of some clubby international organization doesn’t make Russia any less powerful – it just makes them independent.

It is if you have a lot of ground to cover. The Turks wont face any serious opposition.
American forces already have contingency plans to beat a hasty retreat – probably with the acquiescence of Russia and Syria.

I wonder what the situation would be like today had Yeltsin’s request to join NATO been accepted in 94..I would argue the Russians would have by being a member prevented a lot of today’s current divisions..Ukraine, Georgia, Poland defense etc.

Hahaha I loved that commentary you aren’t lying Putin has something on Trump. Our president is a Russian asset, hell Trump hasn’t even enforced the sanctions Congress overwhelmingly passed. Trump is a one term president he’s doing more damage than good, to much spending, to much division, and not enough brains for his job.

NATO should have dissolved after the Warsaw pact was ended…that organization has complicated a lot of countries with entanglement due to alliances..especially in regards to war…one wonders if a few more voices would have been heard and others ignored during the Libyan war France started that morphed into “NATO” demanded regime change..

In actuality it was a handful of countries from that alliance pressing for war…one in particular due to upcoming elections..Sarkozy.

We shall see. Turkey is not going to allow a Kurdish quasi-state on their border, but the US military is not going to admit to withdrawing troops due to Turkey’s warning. It is possible that the US will quietly move its troops out of harm’s way as Turkey advances. Under agreement with Russia, Turkey will turn over the areas of Syria it controls to the Syrian government once fighting stops.

Kurds are a minority everywhere in Syria large enough to form a state. Many Kurdish fighters are from outside Syria.

Since both the US and the Turkish air forces use Incirlik, the Turks would be well advised to infiltrate special forces into the base to prepare a hostile takeover of US operations. This should be followed by a request for a timeline on the withdrawl of all US forces from the base asap. The special forces should be well-armed and prepared for any eventuality, even commandeering the entire base and ferrying US servicemembers to US vessels in the Med. Put your money where your mouth is.

American base in Turkey is heavily fortified and taking over that base would require massive casualties on Turkish troops, I don’t think you understand the contingency plans, you must think America isn’t preparing for the unimaginable. America isn’t going to just give up its base, miscalculation can lead to something far worse.